


Never Enough

by MommaUrsa



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-02
Updated: 2013-03-02
Packaged: 2017-12-04 01:21:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/704855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MommaUrsa/pseuds/MommaUrsa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He knew they would escape with their lives (Nightwing was not an idiot), and would be able to pass the information on when Bruce returned. He wanted the whole family to know that Jason Todd was back, and he was coming for them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never Enough

               He can’t remember much, just the overwhelming darkness, and then the sudden, stagnant green that was filling his burning lungs. The drowning had been the worst part at first, but then the uncontrollable emotions followed. The spectrum was wide as his body filled with everything from rage to fear. The emotions and the drowning filled his every nightmare, which only further fueled him.

               He let a gloved hand brush against the polished plastic of his helmet. Red could help him forget. Red was a color just begging for attention from the one person who could put an end to this nightmare. It was a color that was the opposite of the suffocating green. Red was revenge and anger, but also courage.

               He hoped the courage would be enough.

               Jason stared down at the warehouse below, eyes trailing the black and blue piece of shit that he had been tracking for the past few weeks. He had dropped enough hints of his presence in Gotham, and had taunted the two enough for them to feel the need track him there to Metropolis. He knew that Superman was missing (he had figured that one out once he found out that Bruce was gone), and by going to Metropolis, he did not endanger losing any of his territory in Gotham.

               His fingers curled around the gun in his right holster as he leaned on the metal bars in front of him. His brows furrowed behind the red mask, lips pursing. He exhaled slowly, and kept his eyes locked onto his “brother’s” form. The replacement was following not too far behind. All he wanted to do was shoot the little bastard, but he refrained. There was a bigger plan that required the two to stay alive.

               Nightwing and Robin were finally perched in their own nest up in the rafters. Jason inched further into the shadows to keep hidden. If he was found now, his plan would be completely ruined. After all the time he had put into the planning of this scheme, he was not prepared for it to fail so soon. He wanted to save his back up plans for later on, when things would get more dangerous.

               His lip twitched up into a smirk. His eyes locked onto the truck that was pulling into the warehouse. He waited for the truck to park and for the men to begin unloading the vehicle before jumping down to the concrete below. He pulled his pistols out, and aimed them toward the men.

               “Red Hood,” one man shouted as he dropped the wooden crate he was helping another man carry. The second man stumbled, and then fell forward onto the crate that had slammed onto the ground. The rest of the men began scrambling away, each trying to get as far away from Red Hood as possible.

               Jason smirked behind the mask. He jumped forward, elbow knocking into a man’s gut and sending him flying back. He pulled one gun up and quickly took out a man that had pulled a gun out of the crates. He could see the gunman collapse out of the corner of his eye, but his attention was focused on the leader, who was scrambling to climb into the truck.

               Jason took out another one of the men before they could reach the crates, and then quickly jumped up onto the step below the truck’s high door. The truck was speeding backwards and out of the warehouse in an attempt to escape the vigilantes, and bouncing as the wheels rolled over the fallen men.

               Jason’s gloved fingers curled around the door handle. He allowed himself to spare one glance toward Nightwing and Robin as they sprang into action behind him. Nightwing was trying to reach the truck before it went too fast, but his attempts were futile. Jason chuckled, and then tore the door open so he could climb into the vehicle. He needed to hurry, before the vigilantes tried to blow the tires.

               “Hey there,” Jason greeted the man as he scrambled for the gun strapped to his leg. Jason slid across the seat until he was able to shove his elbow against the man’s throat. His other hand knocked the gun away before reaching for the door and tossing it open. “I thought I told you not to involve kids, even if you were doing business outside of the city,” he snarled. The man tried to choke out a scream, but Jason was quick to prevent the noise from escaping. Instead, he put one of his guns to the man’s knee, pulled the trigger, and then threw him out of the door.

               He heard a loud pop that had the semi shaking as one of the tires blew. He could feel the truck beginning to spin out, and he knew it was time to book it. He quickly slipped out of the open door. He jumped to the concrete below, rolling into a crouch to keep from getting injured during the landing.

               He glanced over at Nightwing and Robin. Nightwing was trying to get to him while Robin took care of the man whose kneecap he had just taken out. Jason smirked at the sight, and then quickly stood up and took off.

               He jumped out of the way, avoiding the grapple that had thrown toward his feet. He climbed a few crates that had been stacked near the dock.

               He was not afraid to admit that this part of his plan was a bit shaky at best. The escape, though just as well thought out as the rest of the plan (get Nightwing’s attention, scare the fucker who would tell his boss that Jason knew he was dealing to kids, and get his hands on the replacement), was not guaranteed to pull through. All he had was a bike to speed away on, but it was a long ways off. He had to outrun his brother, and if the rumors were true, Nightwing had some gadgets of his own that they would have only dreamed of when Jason was Robin.

               He raced across the crates, only glancing back to make sure Nightwing was following him. Sure enough, the bastard was following him, his own movements even more fluid than Jason’s.

               Jason jumped across to a different set of crates, and just narrowly avoiding one of Nightwing’s weapons. “You’re getting rusty, Goldie. Better not let daddy bats know you’ve been slacking,” he called out before sliding to a stop. He reached for a switch in his pocket (and, God, did he love the explosives he had learned to make) before tapping it.

               He watched the bombs go off as he jumped from the crates he had landed on and onto the bike waiting for him. He revved the engine before speeding out from behind the crates. The rubber of the wheels squeaked against the concrete beneath him, and the bike felt like it was about to spin out, but he was not worried. He wobbled a bit, but easily stayed on top of the motorcycle.

               He managed to make it a few blocks away from the scene before hearing the telltale sign of another engine speeding behind him.

               He glanced over, eyes locking onto Robin, who had found his way to his own cycle. Jason’s lips quirked up as he slowed down enough to give the kid time to catch up. If Robin wanted to chase him, he sure as hell was not going to be against it.

               He sped up again once the kid was only a few hundred feet behind him.

               His heart hammered against his chest as he glanced back at the teen behind him. He smirked, and then took a sharp turn into an alley before grabbing a grapple hook from his belt. He pointed it up and shot it off as he let the bike slip away from him. He grunted as the weight of his swinging body pulled at his arms. The rope swung him up, until he was able to grip onto the metal bars of the fire escape.

               Jason did not spare the kid a single glance as he quickly scaled the fire escape. His boots barely made any noise against the metal beneath him. He finally made it up to the concrete edge of the roof, and then pulled himself up.

               His smirk grew when he heard a grapple shoot after him. He glanced down toward where the hook had wedged itself. He lunged forward, knife drawn, and then quickly cut the line before glancing over the edge. He felt pleasure from the surprise that was clearly painted across the kid’s expression as he began to fall. Somewhere deep in his mind, he knew the replacement did not deserve it, but he could not help but feel a little bit better by taking his anger out on the kid.

               Robin scrambled for another hook, but his back slammed against the metal dumpster below before he had the chance. The noise of the kid’s body against the metal was loud, and made him wince. Jason knew something had to break from the fall.

               He hopped back down, landing on the fire escape first, before landing so that he was straddling the injured bird.

               “Not good enough, kid,” he hissed as he grabbed the teenager’s jaw with a grip that promised to leave bruises. He could see Robin wincing, though he was pretty damn good at keeping silent. “You shoulda stayed with Dickiebird.”

               Robin opened his mouth to say something, but Jason’s grip tightened. “In fact, you should have stayed home in Gotham, kid,” he hissed as he searched his pockets for a tranquilizer. “You have no idea what you got into. You never know if you’ll be the next dead bird.”

               He quickly stabbed the needle into the kid’s neck. Robin let out a gasp as his body tensed. He struggled at first, but Jason could see his movements slowing down, until he went completely limp.

—

               Robin was still out with his body limp against his bindings. The tight rope had been wrapped around the kid’s torso, attaching him to a pillar in the Kent family barn. His wrists were bound behind his back and his ankles beneath him, forcing him to sit on his knees. It was not a comfortable position, and the teenager would hurt when he woke up, but Hood did not really care.

               Jason crouched down next to the kid, and then reached out to brush a gloved hand against the mask. He felt the teenager twitch beneath his touch. The kid was going to wake up soon.

               He scowled, and then quickly pulled away. At least he would be awake for the main event. He had hoped that the act would include Bruce, but the bastard was away on business. He had heard through the grapevine that Nightwing had been spotted more often than Batman, and upon further investigation, he had discovered that there was something beyond  _them_  going on.

               Jason’s vendetta was with Bruce alone ( _he_  was the one who had not killed Joker), but he did not want to push his plans off. He needed to bring his “brother” and the replacement into  _this_ , even if it meant they learned the truth before Bruce did.

               He gripped the wooden chair behind him. He spun it around so that the back faced the faker before plopping down, straddling the back of the chair as he scooted forward. He crossed his arms on the top, and then pressed his helmeted chin to the tops of his forearms. He was smirking behind the mask, and his heart was racing. He was anxious for things to start, but he had learned that patience was always rewarded.

               The replacement began to twitch. The movements were subtle, but Jason’s trained eye could see. The subtle twitches were soon followed by soft noises.

               “—Hood…Jason,” the kid croaked, voice lethargic. Jason snorted, lips turning down into a scowl.

               “Welcome to the world of the living, kid,” Jason hissed. He kept his head nestled against his arms, but his hands tensed. His gloved fingers dug into his palms as he glared daggers at the teenager.

               One thing he liked about the helmet was that his expression was hidden. He could keep the cocky tone, and throw quips at anyone, but no one would see what he was truly feeling. The rage, the pain, the fear, everything was hidden from the world when he wore the mask. The replacement would never see how livid he was.

               Robin shifted slightly. It was obvious that he was assessing the bindings, but his mind was not working fast enough to work a way out of them. The tranquilizer was leaving his muscles weak and his movements, as well as his mind, sluggish. He tugged on the bindings on his wrist, but quickly gave up. Instead, he lifted his tired face up to so he could look at Jason.

               “You were—Jason, how did you..?” His voice was still a soft croak as he tried to make sense of what was happening.

               “What? I was one of you guys, so why am I doing this? Or is this the part where you ask me how I’m alive?” Jason let out a snort as he leaned back so he was balancing on two of the chair’s legs. “It’s funny how people think that being a sidekick means you were  _important_  to your mentor.” He feigned another arrogant laugh. “Look at Roy. Ollie gave up on him for years,” he snarled as he slammed the two legs back down onto the ground.

               Robin’s nose wrinkled as his lips turned down into a small scowl. Jason could see his brows furrowing behind the domino mask. “You think you weren’t important to Bruce? That’s what this is about?”

               His lips parted as he prepared to snarl at the younger teen, but he finally heard the nearly silent footfalls of his “brother.” The smirk returned to his face, though it was hidden by the red hood. “We got company, little bird,” he growled. “We’ll finish this later.”

               Jason shot up, hands flying for his guns as he hooked his foot on the leg of the chair. He slid his foot, dragging the chair behind it, before kicking it up at Nightwing’s form as the young man descended down from the rafters.

               Nightwing jumped out the way. He rolled, and then landed in a crouch. His brows furrowed behind the domino mask as the corner of his lips turned down into an irritated scowl. He stared down the barrel of the gun that was pointed in his direction.

               Jason’s finger tensed on the trigger. He forced his body not to shudder as he stared at his “brother.” Dick had visibly grown during the last few years, and Red Hood could only imagine that the Bat’s influence had caused mental growth as well.

               He stared at the Golden Boy, brows furrowing as deep as they possibly could. Rage blossomed in his chest, causing shivers to run down his spine. Every bit of anger was aimed toward Bruce and his antiquated sense of morality, but he could not help it if his “brother” got caught in the crossfire. Dick had stood by whatever decisions Bruce made, and that was enough to make him not feel quite as bad about getting the younger man involved.

               “Red Hoo—“ Nightwing’s voice was a low growl. It had lost all of the lightheartedness that Jason knew from when they were both younger. That felt like a lifetime ago.

               “Shut it,” Jason snapped, cutting the man off as he turned one arm to aim back at the replacement behind him.

               Nightwing glanced over at the kid. Robin’s head was lifted. The mask hid his eyes from view, but the sluggish movement was enough to show that he was still working the situation out in his mind. Nightwing forced himself to maintain the fearless expression, but he could not help but allow a bit of worry to creep in.

               “Drop the sticks,” Jason barked, snapping Dick’s attention to the man. He scowled at the demand, but put the escrima sticks out to his sides and made a show out of dropping them to the ground below. The weapons clattered against the ground as the young man slowly rose to his feet.

               Jason holstered the gun that was aimed towards Dick before slowly stepping closer to the replacement. He stepped around the pillar, and then dropped to a crouch. He moved his arm and aimed the gun at Nightwing.

               Jason put a gloved hand against Robin’s cheek before gripping his jaw. He forced the teenager’s head to stay up as he kept the gun trained on Nightwing. Behind the red hood, Jason’s expression was a mixture of anger and anguish. He was trying not to shudder, but he was beginning to have a hard time controlling himself.

               “He’s a pretty little replacement, don’t you think?” Jason’s voice was a low, distorted growl. His eyes were burning with rage that Dick could not see, but he was sure that his older brother could feel it. “You figure it out yet?”

               Dick glanced down at the youngest brother. The sudden realization was visible in his expression, even if his eyes were hidden behind the white lenses of the domino mask. His lips parted slightly, and his brows shot up. “ _Jason_ ,” he hissed, “Jay—how?” He was stammering. The first Boy Wonder was tongue tied, and Jason  _knew_  to take that as a victory.

               “Doesn’t matter,” Jason growled. “I heard I was replaced pretty quickly by this bird,” he snarled. His nose wrinkled at the thought and his fingers began to dig into the teenager’s face. The kid winced as his brows knitted together. The poor kid was still suffering from the tranquilizer, leaving him unable to try and get away.

               “This isn’t about him, Jay, just…we can talk about this,” Dick stated, hands out in front of him. Jason knew the bastard was just grasping for straws, trying to get a rise out of him. If he slipped, it would be easy for Nightwing to take him out, and save the replacement.

               However, he had different plans.

               Jason released Tim’s jaw. The kid’s head rolled to the side before he struggled to lift his weak gaze to stare at Jason’s mask. Robin’s tongue darted over his bottom lip, and he opened his mouth to say something, but he could not form any words.

               Jason rolled his eyes at the pitiful display, not even realizing that the teen had taken enough of his attention to not notice Nightwing barreling towards him. The crack of the escrima stick against his helmet had his head snapping to the side as his body fell back. Bits of red chipped away from the crack that the assault had left in his mask.

               He snarled before lashing out. He grabbed Nightwing’s neck, and tossed him to the ground. He followed the movement with a roll that allowed him to pin his brother to the ground. He leaned forward as he grabbed the knife from its holster. He watched Dick glance around and try to reach for something, anything to get Jason off, but quickly lost interest in Nightwing’s struggle. He held his knife against Dick’s throat, but before he could even get a single cocky remark out, the side of a metal of a crowbar slammed against the side of his helmet, cracking the mask completely and knocking him over.

               Dick made a soft growl as he lunged forward, crooking his arm at the elbow, and shoving it against Jason’s throat. Jason coughed as he brought his gloved hands up to try and shove the older man away. He exhaled sharply before bringing the knife up, and then plunging it into the side of Dick’s thigh.

               Nightwing cursed as his arm let up just enough for Jason to be able to shove him away. He threw his arm up and against Dick’s side, forcing the young man to slam into the ground beside him. Jason quickly rolled away, and then jumped to his feet. He reached into his back pocket for a small switch.

               Jason held the switch out, lips twitching up into a smirk as he finally used his free hand to pull the broken helmet away. His smirk became a toothy, cocky grin. “You’re definitely not a boy scout anymore, Dickiebird,” he growled, and then let his finger tap the red switch, activating the countdown for the bombs that had been hidden around the barn.

               He did not spare the two heroes a second glance as he made his way out of the Kent’s barn. His identity was known, and that was all that mattered. He knew they would escape with their lives (Nightwing was  _not_  an idiot), and would be able to pass the information on when Bruce returned. He wanted the whole family to know that Jason Todd was back, and he was coming for them.


End file.
